Lumen Research has secured its U.S. patent for its end-to-end eye-tracking data collection platform. The business now has a patent covering the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world, becoming the first attention technology company to reach this milestone.
The patent covers the Lumen eye-tracking platform’s ability to collect and process visual attention data on content and advertising across all digital screens including mobile, desktop and CTV, and for both infra-red and webcam eye tracking technologies. Crucially, the Lumen technology utilises a device’s own camera to enable eye tracking,
The cross-device comprehensiveness of the patent is important given the continuing growth of mobile advertising (over 60% of all digital spend, and growing at 22% a year according to the IAB). Infra-red eye tracking cameras can be deployed on desktop devices, but not on mobile phones. Webcam eye tracking software can be deployed on both desktop and mobile, enabling realistic data collection using the camera native to the device.
This data is used to train the PWC-validated Lumen Predictive Attention Model, the only attention model audited by an independent third-party, which provides advertisers with a way to measure, target, and activate attention data with human-first visual information at scale.
Alaina Pollock, SVP of Partnerships at dentsu, said: “As a long-term partner in helping to build out dentsu’s attention economy, we congratulate Lumen on their US patent.”
Jim Egan, SVP of Business Development at Integral Ad Science, added: “We congratulate Lumen on this significant milestone. Their patented eye-tracking technology represents a notable advancement in attention measurement.”
New Digital Age spoke to Mike Follett, CEO and co-founder of Lumen Research to find out more…
What does the new US patent mean for the business?
Securing this US patent is a big milestone for Lumen. It recognizes the uniqueness of our approach to attention prediction, which blends real-world eye-tracking data with AI modeling. It’s not just about measuring what people look at – we can now predict attention at scale, across digital, print, and even outdoor media. This means brands and agencies can optimise their creative and media planning based on real human behaviour, rather than assumptions or proxy metrics.
What does eye-tracking reveal for marketers?
Eye-tracking strips away the guesswork. It shows you what actually captures attention and, just as importantly, what gets ignored. Marketers have spent years optimising for things like viewability and impressions, but just because an ad is ‘viewable’ doesn’t mean it’s viewed. Eye-tracking data helps advertisers understand how real people engage with content – where their eyes go, how long they stay, and what makes them move on. It’s a powerful tool for cutting through the noise and making sure your message actually lands.
How is it possible to predict the attention an ad placement will receive?
Traditionally, measuring attention meant running eye-tracking studies in a lab, which was time-consuming and expensive. What we’ve done is take thousands of hours of eye-tracking data and train AI models to predict where people are likely to look, in real time. This means we can now forecast the attention different ad placements will receive before a campaign even goes live. It’s a game-changer for media planning – helping brands invest in placements that will actually get noticed, rather than just tick a box on a media plan.
What are the business priorities for Lumen Research for the rest of this year?
The priority is scale. We’ve proven that attention measurement works, but now it’s about making it easier and more accessible for advertisers, publishers, and platforms. We’re expanding our partnerships with major media agencies and tech providers to integrate attention metrics directly into the buying process. The ultimate goal is to move attention from being a ‘nice-to-have’ insight to a fundamental part of how media is planned and bought. That’s where the real impact happens.
